Tour of the Hills – Your Club Needs YOU!

Following the successful re-launch of the Elstead Audaxes on 16 June (see write-up on the club website at https://westsurreyctc.co.uk/blogs/the-elstead-audaxes-2024/) it’s time to turn our attention to Tour of the Hills (TOTH)Audax.

TOTH takes place on Sunday 11 August, at Shere Village Hall. Entries have started to come in and are on track for a healthy number of participants. As this is the club’s main event of the year, and our principal income source, it’s important for all of us that the event goes well.

Entry for TOTH is via the Audax website at:

https://www.audax.uk/event-details/11192-tour_of_the_hills

There are two main ways you can help:

Please take a moment to read on and consider how you can help the club make the event a success.

Volunteers

TOTH cannot function without a small army of volunteers in the hall, and out on the course. Each year, we have had a fantastic response from club members who have taken on these roles, and our volunteers have also had a great time in the process.

Checkpoint Marshals

There are 6 separate checkpoints around the course, and we need marshals at each one of these. Their job is to check the riders in and out, stamping their Audax cards and – most importantly – handing out jelly babies, water top-ups and encouragement.

We are also looking for someone to coordinate the Marshalls at the Village Hall, so a volunteer for this task would be much appreciated. We have a well-drilled system for the checkpoint stations (and all the necessary equipment) so the requirements for this job are already well set out.

Catering and in-hall support

Jill Ridyard is once again masterminding the catering in the village hall on the day, and will need some help both with preparing the food and drink in advance, and serving on the day. The catering is one of the main attractions of the event, and Jill will once again be managing the helpers by recruiting two shifts (morning and afternoon) to ease the burden on anyone who steps forward.

There are also a few other jobs in the hall itself, including a volunteer to deal with on-the-day entries and checking in riders when they return to the hall at the end of the ride. We also plan to run the (gentler but still hilly) Tour of the Greensand ride and need a volunteer to coordinate entries for that too.

Please let me or Jill know if you would be available to assist on any of the above roles.

Publicity

We have already sent out emails to last year’s entrants and more than 30 cycle clubs and cafes throughout the South-East to let them know details of the event, and the Audax magazine and website also provide valuable publicity. But these mailshots can be rather hit-and-miss, and it would be really helpful if club members could use their own contacts and local knowledge to ensure that we bring TOTH to the attention of potential entrants.

We are relying increasingly on social media to promote the event, and I am attaching a jpeg file which contains the poster we have used this year. A personal recommendation can speak far louder than an unsolicited email, so please feel free to post this on any Instagram/Facebook/website where we have a good chance to reach fellow cyclists who might be interested in signing up to ride TOTH.

Thanks, in anticipation of your support!

Derek